Not Princess Material
by whatariot
Summary: "You really did fall out of a Disney movie." Gail has some observations. A reflection post 2x13. Mild language.


_Another one of these retrospectives because they're fun to write and I'm dawdling on Forgotten Memories. I like Gail, though it's kind of reluctant. I think she's one of the most relateable characters because she's so flawed. I also wasn't a huge fan of the half-assed love triangle storyline and I'm still not entirely sure what happened there. Kind of a cop-out way for Chris and Gail to split if you ask me but whatever. I don't write for the show. On that note..._

**I still own nothing.**

* * *

><p>She had predicted this. She had seen this disaster in the making, the end of the fairy tale romance, but still no one would listen to her. She felt like Cassandra in Troy, the tragic prophetess doomed to be called a liar. If she were honest with herself she knew the disbelief was inevitable. Gail Peck didn't do nice. She didn't do friends. She certainly didn't do co-dependencies like what Andy had with Traci. She didn't sleep with training officers. She didn't end engagements. She didn't ruin undercover operations and nearly get her boyfriend killed. She didn't get suspended and then lauded when she walked back in the door a month later, said boyfriend on her arm. She was a good cop damn it but all everyone else ever seemed to see was McNally.<p>

You'd think as the only two generational cops assigned to the fifteen they'd have formed a fast friendship. It actually looked for a while as though it had been going that way in the academy. They chatted and made friends. It hadn't been until Andy asked if she was related to "those Pecks" that things had gone down hill. Now Gail knew that Andy hadn't meant anything by it. She really was that genuine and somehow lacked the catty gene that Gail knew she herself had in spades. It was something else to hate and envy her for. At the time Gail had assumed she was like all the others in the class who knew. Secretly whispering behind her back that she would be 'a white-shirt before training finished if Mommy-dearest had a say'. Never one to hold back she'd torn into Andy viciously. As a last insult she brought up Tommy, comparing his daughter to his drunken failures. Andy had been stricken before recovering her composure. She gave Gail a pitying look before walking over to Traci. Expecting that outburst to make her a social pariah Gail began gathering her insults around her like a cat hoarder. Two days passed and yet she had not heard one word of the attack. Andy avoided her like the plague but Traci, Andy's best comrade in arms had remained perfectly kind. On day three Gail was ready to burst. Why hadn't she told? She managed to corner Andy at the end of the day in the locker room.

"Why haven't you told anyone what I said to you?" Gail asked bluntly, never one to hold back.

Andy just looked surprised. "Why would I tell anyone that? It's humiliating," Andy replied quietly continuing to stuff her things in her bag.

"You could turn me into a complete social reject. Everyone loves you and I'd be a scapegoat," Gail said, her disbelief rising. Was this girl for real?

"Why would I want to do that?" Andy asked her truly confused.

"It's like you really did fall out of a Disney movie and into real life," Gail muttered. "Unbelievable."

"What?" Andy asked, her irritation obviously rising. "Haven't you insulted me enough this week?"

"Oh chill out Cinderella," Gail retorted sarcastically. She felt a sort of grudging respect building. "I was out of line bringing your dad into it," she semi-apologized.

Andy just looked at her. "Yes, you were." She wasn't getting the opportunity for redemption without an actual apology.

Gail growled. "Fine, I'm sorry, okay," she said grudgingly.

Andy nodded benevolently. "Apology accepted," she said before grabbing her bag and walking out the door. "Good night, Gail."

Gail couldn't help but be irritated. She was so damn nice all the time. It didn't help that she was top of the class, even above Gail in most skills. That she actually was Cinderella come to life was just the topper on this whole crappy cake. And if Andy were Cinderella what did that make her, a crone? It was time to end this analogy before Gail felt too self-reflective.

After they graduated from the academy, part of Gail had hoped it would get better. She and Andy would be such great friends and she would be as liked as Cinderella not unlike the fairy tales she'd often imagined herself in. It didn't work out that way. She couldn't help it. She was competitive. She wanted to be the best. Andy just made it all so effortless. Mistake or not she slammed an undercover cop who had seventy pounds on her to the ground on her first day. She recovered a gun and a suspect and saved a girl. Seriously? Did bluebirds help dress her in the morning too? The one bright spot was the seriously pissed off burned officer, Sam Swarek. He hated her. He called her Bambi which Gail had grinned about all day. Finally, there was someone else who saw McNally as a freak refugee from an animated fairytale. It was even better when they were paired together a few days later. Making Swarek her training officer? Boyko was going to be getting some extra affection in his Christmas gift this year. When Andy didn't come back as a defeated shell, Gail couldn't help but be suspicious. No freakin' way. When Andy bolted out the door after Swarek, Gail discreetly followed. She saw Cinderella turn away from Swarek. What a moron. Not that Gail wouldn't have held it over Andy's head if she had actually seen something go down with Swarek; Taunting her with it would be far to tempting. Hell taunting her with the half-truth had been great fun. Her heart hadn't really been in it though.

Until Andy and Chris had busted Bibby, Gail had really been too preoccupied to really care who or what Andy did. There was that woman with the nasty husband but she had long ago accepted the futility of changing someone else's mind. With that attitude she moved forward positively. It was obvious that she wasn't going to unseat Andy as favorite rookie any time soon so she mostly just went along for the ride. She and Chris began to develop a real rapport. She and Traci were actually making friends. Hell even Dov seemed to welcome her to their table and he had more reason than most to hate her competitive nature.

The day Andy and Chris were partnered really seemed to begin like every other one before it; slow and uninteresting. Andy was a bit more on edge than usual but what do you expect. Rumor had it Detective/Prince Charming Luke was getting very into her and she was so obviously hung up on Swarek. Gail thought it was all too pathetic but couldn't work up much anger. She and Chris were good. When the amazing do-gooders reappeared in the gym, she noted their appearance but didn't make too much of it. Andy was trying to get Swarek's attention but what else was new? Sam and Luke being paired as opponents was interesting. When she watched Sam kick the crap out of Luke she cringed. It took Frank to break it up and even then she could see the rage pulsing off of Sam. Would wonders never cease; Cinderella had a new conquest. Later that night the floor fell out from under her. Chris has betrayed her brother's partner. Her brother who dragged her through the woods and made sure she didn't get hurt. Her brother who carried her home the one time he got annoyed enough to leave her on her own. She could take her parent's constant disapproval but from her brother, her hero, she just couldn't bring herself to not care. So she took her hurt that Chris hadn't come to her with the discovery and she took the anger over Bibby's betrayal of the badge and her brother and she directed it all at Chris. Poor Chris. Even as she said the awful words she knew it was wrong. Chris was good. Chris was sweet. Chris was generous. Chris saw the best in people. He was her natural opposite and every part of her rejected the words she was saying but she walked away as though she hadn't just cut off her hand.

Months passed and Gail found a holding pattern. She tacitly avoided the other rookies after their breakup. She spent weeks dodging the others only taking the odd time out to taunt and deliberately rile Andy. Andy's refusal to push back was really what pushed Gail to bait her further. She had the distinct sense that Andy pitied her. There was nothing she hated more than pity. To make matters worse she made the tactical error of defending Chris' actions to her brother. That set off a whole slew of issues in the family culminating with Gail being told by her mother that she should make alternate arrangements for Christmas. Just freaking perfect.

It was actually Traci who extended the first olive branch. Overwhelmed with that message on her voicemail Gail had shed a few tears in the locker room. Of all people to find her it had to be Cinderella's perfect companion and mother of the year. Somehow Traci managed to convince Gail to come to what would eventually be dubbed the first annual rookie Christmas dinner. Every rookie had shown up, and only minor disasters occurred. Despite the disaster that seemed to follow her around, she seemed to have found tentative friends in Andy and Traci. The somewhat drunken "I'm sorry for being an awful person, I get it from my mother," apology had greased those gears. Later she'd also drunkenly apologized for putting the moves on Sam. She admitted he took her home and told her she deserved better than being someone's second choice before dropping her in front of her building and driving off into the night.

The last year had been a roller coaster. After the drug bust and Chris getting stabbed Gail had taken him back swiftly and without remorse. It hadn't hurt that her brother had come to her with an apology. Bibby had been dirty, very very dirty and nearly gotten him pulled in as well. He was reluctantly grateful to Diaz however much he wished it were untrue. For once things seemed to be going perfectly for her. Andy's luck wasn't so hot, nor was Traci's for that matter. The only dark spot for Gail was getting bounced from from waitress duty after that bitchy bartender decided she was pimped out to the owner while Cinderella skated through squeaky clean. Even then she couldn't get too upset.

As it turns out, Gail's own considerably more awkward and earnest Prince Could-Be-Charming-Once-I-Tweak-him-a-bit-more, decided Gail was more frog than princess. Things were going along swimmingly for so long and then Dov took those stupid horse pills and ruined everything. Nothing happened but for Chris the omission was enough to label here with a scarlet B, the B for Betrayer. Gail found herself at loose ends for a while there. It was so odd finding herself commiserating with Andy, someone she had felt both a seething jealousy and strong camaraderie. She hated feeling like the crone in McNally's melodrama but oddly even in her own situation she pitied her.

Oliver had been right in one sense; Andy and Luke had been predestined to fail. Cinderella and her Prince Charming. No, it was all just too perfect especially when Cinderella had Sam Swarek as the ever so emotionally unavailable partner. Gail had seen in from the first night after they had been partnered together, Sam was intrigued, Andy more cautious. They had the look of two strange animals circling each other for the same time, simultaneously drawn in and frightened to get closer. Never were two people more irritating than when they couldn't decide whether to bite or kiss. Gail wasn't too proud to admit she liked a good soap opera. The Sam and Andy show was entertaining from the opening credits, she was honestly just surprised it took them so long to admit it to themselves. Gail knew Luke had seen it and ignored it against his better judgment. She knew he secretly hated Swarek and she knew he wished Andy would put her trust in anyone but him. Luke as the consummate Prince Charming acted on none of his baser emotions. He sucked it up and got the girl albeit accidentally. The ring-find came out in the somewhat drunken wash when Traci hosted a "Men Suck" girls night. She'd also had her suspicions of a previous hookup with Swarek semi-confirmed. She'd known it already, but it was nice to be proven right.

As the month passed Gail listened to the station gossips getting more impatient. Oliver was practically frothing at the bit for Sam to make a move on Andy. He regularly attempted to gauge Andy's readiness by questioning Traci and even Jerry on her readiness to date. Even Dov had commented once earning him backlogged paperwork duty from an exceptionally irritated Swarek. Unsurprisingly Sam going undercover actually seemed to be the push Andy needed. She would be the type to not see what's under her nose, not that Gail could judge. She tormented Chris for months. Turnabout is fair play.

The opening of the precinct door interrupted her reverie. "Hey Gail, are you coming?" Traci asked passing by her position on the wall.

"No, I'm catching a ride with Callaghan."

Traci raised her eyebrows. This was new. "Again? Are you sure? There's lots of room," Traci said gesturing to her car parked with Chris and Dov jockeying for the front seat.

"I'm fine," Gail insisted leaning back against the wall.

"Okay. See you at the Penny," Traci said skeptically before turning back to her car. She cuffed Dov and Chris on the back of the head before directing them both to the back seat. Jerry jogged out moments later and gave a jaunty wave to Gail. "Need a ride?" he asked her motioning to the car.

"I'm good," she said simply leaning back once again. Callaghan needed to move his ass. It was cold out here.

"Okay," Jerry said jumping into the passenger seat of Traci's car.

Gail watched as it drove out of sight to the Penny. Maybe she was making a mistake with this whole Callaghan thing. The look on Traci's face certainly suggested as much. Actually if you'd asked her a month ago she would have said the same thing. When he'd dared say they were both in the dog house she'd reacted like a wounded animal. He poured peroxide into a recent gash made by Chris' harsh words and then compared his indiscretion to her omission. While Gail hadn't been privy to the whole story, Andy was shockingly closed-mouthed about the issue, she got the gist. Luke Callaghan, lying philandering bastard. Prince Charming wasn't a prince and as it turns out he was far too charming.

After her uniform was kidnapped he was nice to her, for no reason she could fathom. It was weird how they just clicked. He wasn't put off by her somewhat abrasive mannerisms. He tried to help her keep perspective. When the news about Swarek crashed through the division Gail watched as Jerry brushed off Luke's question and saw as his face fell when Jerry shared the difficult truth. Luke was clearly devastated by the news and she felt a twinge of pity for him.

It bothered Gail somewhat that she could relate to Luke. He represented what she hated. He was a cheater. He was a liar. He still tried to marry Andy under false pretenses. Despite all that she got him on a base level. Despite all evidence to the contrary she knew he was inherently a loyal and a good man. Despite everything, including her better judgment she would go home with him again tonight and they would spend the entire night together talking, just talking as they had done so many times before. They talked for hours over everything. They talked about their childhoods or lack thereof. They talked about their jobs and what they loved. They talked about their betrayals, both as betrayer and betrayed. They bonded deeply. It was more intimate than sex but Gail knew herself enough to acknowledge that she wanted something more. This could really be something.

She did know however that Luke wasn't ready. He still watched Andy with a degree of longing. He went out of his way to avoid running into Sam at all, not always an easy task when they worked in the same building. She did know that he had stopped trying to apologize to Andy. She assumed the late night messages to her voicemail had ceased. Even the dirty looks at Swarek had seemed to settle.

The door opening behind her had her turning, and half expecting Luke, she smiled. It was actually Andy who met her eyes and gave a polite smile back.

"Have a good night, Gail," Andy said to her with a small wave.

Gail smiled back before something occurred to her. "Hey Andy," Gail said.

Andy turned back to meet Gail's eyes. "Yes?"

"I didn't say it before but welcome back," she told Andy with a smile.

Andy nodded, "Thanks Gail," she turned as though leaving once again before pausing and turning back. "This isn't my place to comment but for the record, I think you're good for him," Andy said awkwardly. "I think he needed someone who pushed back."

Gail was surprised to say the least. She didn't know Andy had even had an inkling of her non-relationship with Luke. "Umm. Thanks I guess," Gail replied watching as Andy nodded and began walking toward what Gail assumed was her new home. As she saw the gray truck pull up along side Andy she didn't have to speculate anymore. Casa de Swarek would have a visitor that evening. She watched them tonight like she had the night after Swarek's kidnapping, and like then Gail could practically see the sparks.

The door opening behind her a second time startled her and she jumped as her very own Prince-not-so-charming stepped out into the frigid winter. He smiled at her and she felt her resolve to take it slow melt. It took him all of three more seconds to notice Andy standing next to Swarek's truck. She looked for the inevitable pained look in his eyes that had come so frequently in the last two months. She waited and watched but she only saw a flash of what she could only assume was regret. He wasn't ready yet but some day soon he would be. For now she was content to be his friend without benefits. Prince Charming didn't get his Cinderella in this story but maybe that's where fairy tales were supposed to stay, stories. It was looking like reality could be so much better.


End file.
